Warriors march into final

Worcester Warriors reached the final of the European Challenge Cup with a 31-16 victory over Newcastle Falcons on Friday evening.

The Warriors ran in four tries through Marcel Garvey, Sam Tuitupou (2) and Tom Wood to claim a deserved success at Sixways.

Tom May's seventh-minute drop goal gave Newcastle the early lead, just reward for a bright start.

But the momentum turned when Worcester centre Dale Rasmussen put in a huge tackle on opposite number Jamie Noon, who later limped off with a recurrence of an ankle injury.

Noon received man and ball at the same instant in midfield and coughed up possession to allow Worcester's fleet-footed winger Garvey to scoop up the loose ball and run it back under the sticks from just inside his own half.

Shane Drahm added the conversion for a 7-3 lead and, nine minutes later, Worcester almost scored their second try when the video referee was required to rule that Matthew Powell had knocked on after winning a race to the line with May to collect his own kick.

While it was clearly correct that the move ended in a knock on, replays also indicated May was fortunate to get away with a push in the back of Powell that disturbed the scrum-half's balance just before he attempted to collect the ball.

Worcester's second try did arrive in the 21st minute, Tuitupou following in to touch down Garvey's brilliant chip inside from the right flank.

Drahm slotted the simple conversion for a 14-3 lead, although that was reduced to 14-6 on the stroke of half-time when visiting fly-half Jonny Wilkinson landed a penalty.

Newcastle conceded a penalty straight from the kick-off at the start of the second-half, allowing Drahm to reopen Worcester's 11-point advantage.

Floodlight failure

After a 10-minute delay due to a local power cut that caused the Sixways floodlights to briefly fail, Newcastle enjoyed their best spell.

Wilkinson stroked his second penalty to get the Falcons back to 17-9 down on 47 minutes, but he missed another three-point opportunity from near the left touchline shortly afterwards.

The second of those penalties resulted in a visit to the sin-bin for lock Greg Rawlinson, the price for the Worcester forwards' collective penchant for killing the ball at the ruck.

But the hosts' pack redeemed themselves by controlling possession to come through Rawlinson's 10-minute absence unscathed and the result was then sealed with tries from Wood and Tuitupou.

Wood, on as a replacement, stretched over from close range after the Falcons' defence had been worn down by a series of rucks, while Kiwi centre Tuitipou got his second after collecting Drahm's delicate kick ahead.

Drahm added the conversion to complete a personal haul of 11 points before his charged down kick allowed Brent Wilson to score a meaningless late try for Newcastle.

The result brings the curtain down on Wilkinson's season, he will now undergo shoulder surgery, ruling him out of England's summer Tests and the rest of the Falcons' floundering Guinness Premiership campaign. The England selectors also face an anxious wait to determine the extent of Noon's latest ankle problem.

Worcester await the winner of Saturday's second semi-final between Bath and Sale, a match you can watch live on Sky Sports 2 at 12.30pm.